Lunatics Radio Hour: The History of Horror

This week Abby and Alan continue exploring the intersection of winter and horror, this time through the lens of of isolation.  Sources:  A Medical News Today article by Danielle Dresdon: What to know about cabin fever . JAMA Network, scientific study by Eugene Ziskind, M.D. called Isolation Stress in Medical and Mental Illness PubMed study from 2021, Social Isolation and Psychosis: An Investigatio...

This week Abby and Alan continue our exploration of snow horror by talking through 5 real life snow tragedies.  Sources A History.com article by Becky Little: The Dyatlov Pass Incident: Why the Hiker Deaths Remain a Mystery Museumhack.com article by Alex Johnson: The Real Story of The Donner Party History.com article 10 things you should know about the Donner party by Evan Andrews The True Story B...

This week Abby and Alan present a non-exhaustive look at winter folklore and mythology from around the globe. From Scotland, Norway and Germany to Japan and Native American mythology.  This kicks off a multi-part series exploring the intersection of winter and horror from several different categories.  Sources Smithsonian Magazine Article by Dennis Zotigh: The Winter Solstice Begins a Season of St...

This week we take a nostalgic walk down memory lane and piece together some of our past episodes on Christmas and holiday horror. We’ve covered so many different versions of holiday horror over the last few years, and we wanted to put together a mega-Christmas horror episode that highlights everything from the history of Yule and the pagan celebrations that pre-date Christmas, to the history of a...

Abby sits down with our friend Kate Rotunda to talk about the intersection of feminism and horror. We start out by discussing Frankenhooker (1990) and go from there.  CW: Discussion of violence against women and SA. Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan...

Abby and Alan sit down to talk through the dark history of every day expressions and sayings. From mad hatter to taking it with a grain of salt, we get into all of it.  Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep. S...

Abby and Alex pick up where they left off last week, and talk through The Wiz and Wicked, in all of it's forms.  Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep. Support the show

Abby sits down with Alex to talk through all things Wizard of Oz. From L Frank Baum's books which date back to 1900, to the 1939 classic MGM film and so much more. Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep. S...

This week Abby and Alan present four modern day horror stories, all in some ways inspired by or adjacent to the Friday the 13th film franchise.  Belly Bees was written by Sam Logan and narrated by Kate Rotunda. Follow Sam at  samloganwrites.com .  No Signal was written by Warren Benedetto and narrated by Mike Macera. Follow Warren at  https://warrenbenedetto.com .  The Lake was written by Jay D. F...

The saga concludes! Abby and Alan continue with their deep dive into the Friday the 13th horror franchise with the final four movies; Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X, Freddy vs Jason and the Friday the 13th reboot from 2009.  Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & J...

Abby and Alan talk about the middle films in the Friday the 13th franchise: Part 5 through Part 8.  Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep. Support the show

Abby and Alan sit down to discuss the history and production of the first four films in the Friday the 13th horror franchise. In part one we start with the first four films; Friday the 13th (1980), Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1983).  From Kevin Bacon to Corey Feldman, there is a lot to discuss between the first four movies in th...

Abby and Alex are so thrilled to present three haunting and spooky tales.  The Summoning was written by Joseph Hare, and narrated by Denali Bartell. Check out Joseph on Instagram @josephhareifyoucare and on Substack josephhare.substack. The Bark was written by Glenn Dugan and Narrated by Mike Macera. Check out Glenn's website here, whereisglennnow.com and follow him on Instagram @whereisglenn...

Abby and Alex Goleman are thrilled to present three haunting horror stories.  First Date was written by Carver Welsh and narrated by Abby Brenker. Follow Carver on IG @carverwelsh. A Scratching at The Door was written by Jon Adcock and narrated by Denali Bartell. Follow Jon's work here . Check out Denali's poetry collection here .  Division of Spoils was written by D.H. Parish and narrat...

Abby just couldn't get enough. This week is a true deep dive into the history of one of the most bizarre phantoms to haunt a major city. Reports and sightings of Spring-Heeled Jack were commonplace in Victorian London.  Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Ar...

We are thrilled to present three superhero horror stories.  Interminable was written by Warren Benedetto and performed by Mike Macera.  Heffalumps and Ozzles was written by Nikki Blakey and performed by Sara Luke, follow Sara on IG at @saraluke25. The Undertaker was written and performed by Denali Bartell.  Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in e...

Abby and Alan continue their conversation about superhero history and horror. Diving into the most iconic superheroes of all time, and the best examples of superhero horror.  Get Lunatics Merch here.  Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar...

Listen in as Abby and Alan discuss the origins of superhero horror, starting with the earliest instances of folk heros, and the very first superhero comics. From Hugo Hercules to Robinhood, the Scarlett Pimpernel and Namor the Submariner. Get Lunatics Merch here.  Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa,...

Written by Jacob Steven Mohr.  Starring Denali Bartell, Sarak Luke and Mike Macera.  Direction and sound design by Abby Brenker (with the help of Alan Kudan.) Sound engineering and mixing by Alan Kudan.  Enjoy your Summer!  Get Lunatics Merch here.  Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan &amp...

This week Abby sits down to discuss all things Astrology. From the earliest uses of star divination in ancient cultures, to Mercury in retrograde, and everything in between.  Sources Time Magazine article: Where Do Zodiac Signs Come From? By Olivia B. Waxman.  Academic Paper from Richard Fitzpatrick as part of the physics department at the University of Texas, Austin: Ptolemy’s Almagest: Fact and...

We are so thrilled to present The Player, written by Forest Flynn and performed by Winston Alvarez. Get Lunatics Merch here.  Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep. Support the show

Today we discuss the history of the Lincoln's, The Booth's and the intersection of the White House and the Occult. But more importantly, this history is really a reflection of a nation divided, and the aftermath of grief. It doesn't seem so far away from the current state of the state.  Sources Whitehousehistory.org article by Alexandra Kommel: Seances in The Red Room .  CSUN Univer...

Listen in to the final installment of our Space Horror series. We will conclude with two epic space horror stories for you. Pariah's Last Breath was written by Curtis A. Deeter and narrated by Denali Bartell. Check out Denali's work here . Follow Curtis on Facebook @AuthorCurtisADeeter and Instaram is @Curtis_A._Deeter. Orion Beckons was written by Benjamin Cooper and narrated by Mike Ma...

Abby is so thrilled to present three haunting space horror themed stories.  Encounter was written and narrated by Nick Young. You can follow Nick on Instagram  @zenblues  and on X: @NickYou87166031. Toy Robot was written by S.S. Fitzgerald and narrated by Jon C Cook. Follow S.S. Fitzgerald on X: @S_S_Fitzgerald. And listen to the Fadó podcast to hear more of Jon's dreamy voice on demand.  A P...

Abby and Alan continue to discuss the vast history of space horror in film, with a focus on one of the most famous horror franchises of all time, Alien.  Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord . Check out Abby's book Horror Stories . Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep. Sources A New Yo...